Scorpio Races: Return of the Capaill Uisce
by HORSEgirl2020
Summary: Starts a little after the original book left off. Things take a dramatic turn when Gabe leaves the island and Sean discovers a new Capall Uisce.
1. Chapter 1

Scorpio Races: Return of the Capaill Uisce

Chapter 1

Sean

Corr returned to me. He has been forced to stay in a cave on the shoreline. And it's been a week. I haven't seen Puck since Corr came back from the November sea. Gabe was so worried about her that he stayed, and there was a boat that was late. Gabe, in turn, convinced Beech. But today is the day they both leave. Puck has been in shambles the past two days from grief. I feel bad that I couldn't have done more. I've been so occupied with Corr that she has given me space. For once, I have no idea what I think about it. George Holly said that he would give his veterinarian a call. He told me that they could set the bone, but I have my doubts. Technology has never helped me with horses.

All I've ever needed was what my father taught me, and what I figured out myself with Corr. I feel like I should check on Puck, so I turn and walk out of the cave that Corr occupies. He keens to me softly, almost like a horse's snort or whicker, but more in the throat. I tell him I'll be back later, and repeat myself to a half-asleep Holly. I walk up the beach, up the path to the cliffs, and to Puck's house. I knock on the door. Finn answers. "Oh, it's you. Hold on. Puck!" he yells. Then the tone of his voice changes. "It's Sean Kendrick!" He almost giggled. Or maybe he did. Sounded like a dying moose to me. Puck appears in the hall behind Finn. "Sean. Hi." She's been crying. I don't beat around the bush. "Has Gabe left yet?" I ask tentatively.

She bursts into tears. Finn gives me a dirty look, and holds his arms out to her for support. She falls into mine instead. She cries into my shirt, getting it wet with either spit or tears, or both. But I don't care. She's never been this emotional around me. I stroke her hair, Finn looking at my hand with malice. I guess her whole family isn't what they usually are. She bawls into my shirt for a couple more minutes, but she eventually gathers herself again. "He's leaving in an hour," she chokes out.

"Do want to come to my father's house later?" I ask her. "Or Corr's cave? To get a load off."

"Yeah. That sounds… better. Better than sitting here at home wallowing." She looks at Finn. "Are you okay with that, Finn?" He doesn't get a chance to answer. Gabe appears behind him.

"What if I'm not okay with it?" he says quietly. I put my hand on Puck's arm. She doesn't seem to notice.

"I'm sorry, but when did consulting each other about decisions ever become a thing?" she growls. It's a quiet warning, but he knows not to mess with her.

"You wouldn't have understood if I had, Kate!" She turns away. He strides over to us, and gives me a hard look. I don't want to leave her, but I step back anyway.

"I still love you, Puck, but not everyone loves this island. I'm sorry. But I can't bear it." She turns and buries her face in his jacket and wraps her arms around him.

"I know how you feel." She pulls away. "You'd better go get your things. The boat leaves in an half an hour."

"Okay. You and Finn take the Morris. Beech is coming to pick me up, but his stuff will be in the back." He walks back into the house. Beech pulls up in a beat-up old car and hollers for Gabe. He comes out of the house with his bags and throws them in the back seat with Beech's. Then they drive off. Finn breaks the silence.

"I'll go get the Morris." I stand with Puck in silence. She walks over to me in the overcast November afternoon, and whispers, "Want shotgun?" I poke her in the rib with my finger, and she laughs out loud. When she pulls away, we hear the Morris start. Finn drives it up to us, and doesn't look at me or Puck. Finn tells her to sit in the front. She doesn't want to listen, but she does anyway. She scoots right up next to him, and motions for me to follow. I get in, and Puck evens out the length between her and me and Finn. We drive to the docks.

When we get there, Gabe is already there with Beech. Peg and Thomas Gratton are there also. I stand back while Puck and Finn and Thomas and Peg say their goodbyes. Gabe comes over to me. "I need to talk to you." He lowers his voice. "You had better take care of my sister. Just because I won't be here to watch you doesn't mean I'm completely naive. Just take care of her. Everything else should already be implied. Let's agree that I won't become an uncle any time soon, okay?" Both of our faces turn bright red. "I promise."

He gets on his boat, and we watch it fade into the horizon. Puck had tears in her eyes a couple minutes ago, but I see no trace of them now. I lean over and whisper in her ear. She smiles, and we walk to the beach, of course telling Finn first. He gets in the Morris and drives away.

When we get to the beach, she sees the blood on the sand and looks blank. I steer her away towards Corr's cave. When we get to the entrance, Corr paws the gravel. Puck smiles and goes to him. I follow closely. She takes a hold of his halter and strokes his great head. I stand behind her with a hand on her back. She leans back into me, and I rest my cheek on her hair. Holly enters the cave, with a bit of a surprised look. "Sorry. Heard something out there and Corr was kind of upset, so I went and checked it out. You guys okay?" he says in a rush.

"Yeah," Puck says. She's staring into space. I have a hard time believing, one, that she heard him, and two, if she did, that she is really okay.

"My friend in California said that they could bring an X-Ray machine here tomorrow, along with the equipment they would use to set the bone if need be. Does that work for you, Sean?"

"Yes, thank you." I don't know what else to say. Puck chimes in.

"When, exactly?" she inquires. "Would they need to bring it down to the beach?" Her usual ferocious expression has melted into worry. It's a side of her I haven't really seen before.

"They said they could bring it to the cliffs, but the sand won't work. Do you think a trailer could bring him up? I respond this time.

"I think he could make the trip if we went up the path that wasn't so steep."

"I'll tell them to bring it to the cliffs then," he says back.

Puck turns around to him, her hand on my neck. Her hand is freezing. She addresses the American."Thank you very much, Mr. Holly."

He gets the message. I watch Holly turn and leave the cave. It's dark in here, but at the end of the cave, I see the lovely orange light that washes over part of the cave wall. It makes the red horse painting almost glow, almost like Corr glows when it's a less overcast day and he's worked up a sweat. I realize that the color looks very much like Puck's hair. When it gets damp, it's much like when I took Corr's saddle off after the Scorpio Races, sweat curled, but still beautiful as ever.

Puck is sitting against the wall of the cave, looking up at Corr. I get the feeling that she's thinking about Dove. Corr and Dove are so different, but so similar at the same time. They both have extraordinary relationships with their owners. But at the same time, neither of them are owned by anything. Nothing at all. I walk over to where Puck is sitting. She looks exactly how she did the night of Tommy Falk's funeral. She looks as if she's grown from the sand and rocks around her. Like I did the last time, I sit by her and look at her face. Three tears run down her face. I don't exactly know what to do.

I reach out and touch her cheek with my index and middle fingers. She leans into me, and pull her to my chest. She buries her face in my neck. I kiss her head and try my best to comfort her, but it's not exactly my area of expertise. She doesn't sob, just lets the tears flow.

She pulls away faster than this morning.

"I would ask if you were okay, but I don't ask dumb questions."

"What am I doing? My life has turned into desperation. I do things out of necessity, instead of enjoyment," she states, obviously down on herself. I think about us. Is there an us? I suddenly feel foolish. I speak.

"You don't do that. Not one bit. Whatever you do, you do it out of love. You entered in the Scorpio Races. Why? Because you loved your brothers and wanted Gabe to stay. Did you see Gabe enter the Scorpio Races?" She puts her head in her hands.

"I didn't mean that. You know I didn't. Gabe loves you. He hated leaving, but it is the only thing he could do." Silence. I feel terrible. Finally, Puck speaks.

"I'm sorry. I've never been like this since my parents died." I know it's hard for her to say it. "I can't stand feeling like I'm coming apart just as my life is coming together again. When I looked for you on the beach, I saw the officials putting a sheet over someone. I suddenly knew how Gabe felt. I couldn't bear it. I couldn't bear it if you were dead. I thought you were when I found you." She suddenly finds the sand below her feet more interesting. Her cliff grass red hair waves slightly; drafts like that aren't uncommon. Then I realize what she just said. She couldn't bear it. Does that mean...that she cares about me?

"Does that mean..." I trail off, not sure I want to know what the answer is. She sits expectantly beside me, gazing just between my eyes. I rephrase what I was trying to say. "Do I mean something to you?" I still don't know if I want to know the answer. I stare at my boots. I remember that Corr is in the cave with us. He has his ears pricked straight forward, a little too close together, and it makes me even more anxious.

"You do." I look up. She looks me straight in the eye. "You do, Sean Get Your Pony Off This Beach Kendrick." I think I smile. She does, too.

"You matter to me, too, Kate Connolly." She smiles at me, and kisses me lightly on the jaw. Then she gets up and holds her hand out to me.

Puck

He takes my hand and barely use it to pull himself out of the sitting position. That makes me feel strange. "Now what?" I ask him.

"You were the one that got up," he tells me. "But, to answer your question, I should probably take you home." I don't want to go home. I want to ride in the sunset, him on Corr, me on Dove. I want to kiss him, and not think about the world, how wrong and right my world is right now. i want to do what I've always dreamed of, but never expected would actually happen. I want to have a farm, not have to work for Malvern, maybe even train a couple Capaill Uisce. Sean's voice interrupts my thoughts. "Puck, are you okay? Do you not want to go back?" "Not really. I don't know what I want to do." He sighs.

"I'll walk you home."

We walk in the near darkness. It's windy and it pulls most of my hair out of my ponytail. it whips around my face, and some slap Sean in the face. I guess some things never change. I take out the elastic band and attempt to tame the loose strands. Sean makes a noise between a chuckle and a laugh. It makes me laugh, too. I speak. "You know, they say that there are still some Capaill Uisce on the island. I wonder if we can catch one for you to use next year." I'm sure he can hear the caution in my voice. He takes a minute to consider this. His face gives away nothing, as always. I don't know what else to say. I get the feeling that, while he appreciates George Holly's efforts, he has little faith in them.

"Huh." The sound is barely audible.

"Did that upset you?" I ask. "Because you know I didn't mean it that way," I say firmly. He knows that, I scold myself. It's not like he would just assume that you meant to hurt his feelings. It takes more than one little prick to upset him. What world are you living in? I feel stupid for asking that question after what he just said about them five minutes ago.

"No. You know it takes more than that," he says simply.

"That was a stupid question to ask," I tell him.

"At least you care."

"I just told you that you did."

"I haven't forgotten." That makes my stomach do a little jump. I feel my cheeks heat up again, and it makes me more angry.

"I don't think I will either," I say, a little embarrassed. I realize that we in front of my house. I vaguely remember Dove whinnying at me from her pasture. "Goodnight, Sean Kendrick." I walk into the house. Finn is waiting.

"How's Romeo?" he asks. The sarcasm in his voice in obvious. "Doesn't look like you even need me or Gabe. Don't know why you made such a big deal about him leaving this morning." That hurt. He just crossed a major line. I'm not about to ignore him, but the image in my mind of Sean leaning against the cliffs when Mutt had Corr. Unmovable. A statue. I could be like that, but I can't say nothing like Sean can.

"Finn Connolly, you don't get to tell me that I don't care about the only family I have left, even though they don't give my much reason to." He looks like I've slapped him. I wish I would've. But instead, I stalk to my room. His mattress is still in there. I haul it into the hallway, and yell at Finn to come get it. I don't let him get there before I slam the door to my room.

Sean

Puck walks straight into the house, not giving me a second glance. I don't wonder why. I see Finn's face peering through the window. He doesn't notice me looking at him. He's steaming at Puck. I contemplate staying and listening, but I reason that Puck can handle herself. I start to walk down the long road back to the cliffs. I hear faint yelling. Puck tells Finn that him and Gabe don't give her much reason to love them. Let's just say I wouldn't want to be in Finn's place right now. It would scare me more than most things would. And that fact makes me more uneasy than I've been in a very long time.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Sorry for the wait! Between homework and family stuff and all the crap that goes on in life, it's kinda hard to focus on writing. Thanks for being patient with me and how busy I am.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing. This story belongs to Maggie Stiefvater.**_

Chapter 2

Puck

I wake up at 5:30 the next morning. I saddle Dove, ride down to Palsson's, and pick up some November cakes. When I open the door, the smell of pastries envelopes me. I walk up to the counter and look into the glass cases below it. There are beautifully frosted cookies that look like fall itself. There are cinnamon rolls with Bev's special glaze, bread loaves like the one Sean brought me, cakes that are tinted blue, green and pink, and little muffins of all types. On the bottom shelf, though, are the fresh-made November cakes. I pick one that looks like it's begging for me to eat it, forgetting that I came here for Sean, too. I pay for it and am on my way out the door when I remember to get another for Sean. I go back to Bev and get a second cake, asking her to put extra frosting on both. Then I walk out the door, untying Dove on my way.

I head down to the beach. Now it's about 6:15. I walk, leading Dove because she looks tired. The cliff grass waves in the wind, making what looks little ripples in it. When I get to the edge of the cliffs, I see the water lapping up onto the shore. Blood is still being washed away. It's impossible to tell whose.

Sean

I think all night of Puck's family. I don't sleep. I stare at the cave wall with the painting of the red Capaill Uisce. Glowing from the sunrise. That makes me think of Puck. Her light laugh that makes her wispy, red hair dance. Her smile that is rare, but when it comes, nothing can go wrong. Her quiet, gentle ways with Dove. I remember the day on the cliffs, when she brought me November cake. We ate at her house that night. It wasn't normal, but it was the closest thing to home I've had for a long time. That's what she is to me. Home.

Puck

I walk down to the beach. The remnants of blood and death on the sand look faded up close, by still just as repulsive. I go behind a wall of rock, and slip into Corr's cave. Sean leans against the wall, eyes open, but not seeming to be conscious. He looks over to me, and his face lifts, like a just took a burden off of his shoulders. He whispers, "What are you doing here this early?"

"I thought you might want some breakfast," I say, gesturing to the November cakes. He stands, walks over to me, and I hand him one of the cakes. He takes it and brings it over to Corr. He leans against the makeshift stall and unwraps the package. As he makes his way through the cake, I hear the clanking a stock trailer. George Holly's voice accompanies it. "Anyone down there?" he shouts. Sean apparently isn't the yelling type. Surprise. He goes to the mouth of the cave and squints up at the American. "Ready, Mr. Holly?" he asks.

"Sure am," he says. "Sean?"

 _ **Okay, I know if has been SUPER long since I've updated but there were complications with my email and I had to get it figured out. I know this chapter is super short, but the next one is coming, but only if you guys want another one! Let me know what you think! Ask and you shall receive.**_


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